Moments Lost in Time
by Dragonsgirl16
Summary: Death's Companion take two. Ana Potter finds herself on holiday with her best friends, as usual nothing goes right for the girl-who-lived. She finds herself in Sengoku Jidai where she must face a hanyou who annoys her, a miko whose love interests leave a lot to be desired, an inu youkai who seems hell bent on possessing her mind, body and soul, an evil hanyou and the Shikon-no-Tama
1. Summer Holiday

A/N: Okay so this is take two of Death's Companion. So the reason I am redoing it is because I lost the notes telling me what I was gonna do for the plot so instead I decided just to redo it completely, I lost my inspiration for Death's Companion and although some elements will be the same, a lot will be different. I'm so sorry to those of you who wanted me to update Death's Companion and to those of you who have joined me on the journey of its creation, I feel this one will be so much better so I hope you like the new version!

* * *

><p>We're going where the sun shines brightly<p>

We're going where the sea is blue

We've seen it in the movies

Now let's see if it's true

~Cliff Richard Summer Holiday

* * *

><p>She was falling but at the same time she wasn't. She knew she was falling, her mind remembered the shove into the well and the voice that spoke to her, but it didn't feel right and she knew the sensation of falling well. After all she fell off her broom when the dementors attacked her. But this wasn't falling, there was no rush of wind, no surge of adrenalin nothing but the purple haze that surrounded her. Once again she began to question her existence, her purpose in this world and she found herself wanting to be back in England, eating Kreacher's beef pie and sitting by the large fireplace in the library reading. No apparently the simple things in life was beyond the reach of the girl-who-lived. Bitterly she smiled, nothing was her choice in the end and now she found herself regretting the decision to come back to life after meeting Dumbledore in the dream-like King's Cross Station. She wished she would have moved on with Dumbledore but she couldn't have her friends suffer at the hands of Voldemort. So she came back and she won.<p>

Still it seems as if that wasn't enough for fate, so once again the girl-who-lived had another task to fulfil and another prophecy to live up to. Another sigh escaped her as an image of her bushy haired friend appeared in her mind's eye. Sometimes she envied Hermione with her simple life, there was no prophecy to fulfil in the life of Hermione Granger, no expectations just the bushy haired muggle born girl who got lucky. Green eyes closed as a smile lit up her face, nostalgic and warm, in fact the blame for this little trip down the well could all be attested to the book loving woman, it was her bright idea that the saviour of the wizarding world needed a break. Hermione had been so excited when she came with the idea, so being the good friend she was, Ana let the other woman plan the trip.

She had smiled and listened as Hermione rattled of places they could visit and Ron gave his girlfriend exasperated smiles. America, where there was a plethora of supernatural creatures but Ana had quickly decided against that after finding out about the hunters who kill those creatures and after seeing Hermione's 'State to State Guidebook of Fun and Muggle things!' Both Ron and Ana had looked at that fearfully. Italy came next, 'it's so romantic and full of love' Hermione ad said wistfully and Ron, realising he would 'get lucky' the whole trip was all for it. Ana however had put her foot down, refusing to be the third wheel on a trip that was supposed to be for her. New Zealand had been the most appealing choice, with both women having a shared bond of their love of all things Tolkien and Middle-Earth related but, as Ron so kindly pointed out, it was a thirty six hour flight with three planes to catch to boot. Not to mention the fact that the Lord of the Rings films had been filmed at different locations across New Zealand and, as with the problem with America, they didn't want to go searching around for the film locations.

It was December when they finally settled on a place, though it happened by coincidence but it was this exact moment that Ana would be able to say it all went wrong. December 25th found the three friends at the Burrow, sitting around the kitchen table opening Christmas presents surrounded by happy laughter and cheerful banter.

"Oh my," Hermione had gasped at opening her present from Ron, beneath the clumsily wrapped paper sat a book. It was a battered old thing and obviously second hand and apparently well read by its previous readers. It was a rich purple in colour and had no name on the front cover but inside was a detailed description of the history of youkai and miko's.

To think, Ana's problem right now wouldn't have occurred at all if Ron hadn't stumbled across that quaint little book shop while walking down Hive Alley. But alas, Ron did stumble across it and the shop keeper had been eager to point him in the direction of that little purple book. The purple book that would be a catalyst in the events to come. As soon as Ron appeared home the book was wrapped and stored away but that book shop disappeared as if it had never been there to begin with. After all it had served its purpose now. But Ana didn't know this. Ana had no idea that things had been so meticulously set up by fate. She didn't know that fate had now set the wheels in motion and could at last sit back and enjoy the story of the girl-who-lived that had now and truly begun.

"I want to go to Japan," Hermione had declared on New Year's Day, having read the book a grand total of twenty times since she received it. Of course Ana had no wish to go but it was the eager gleam in her friend's eye that made her say yes. Though she couldn't say that watching Ron get there the muggle way had no part in her decision.

So it was early summer that found the trio in the waiting lounge at Gatwick Airport waiting for their two pm flight to Tokyo. Amusement shone in green eyes as she watched her ginger haired friend, he would stand by the large window and watch the planes before pacing up and down worriedly muttering under his breath about the size of planes. Hermione's attempt at calming her boyfriend down only amused Ana further. Though she herself felt panicked at the thought of being confined in what was essentially a metal bird. She was too glad to be getting out of the UK to allow it to creep too far into her mind.

She found she enjoyed flying on the plane but nothing compared to feel of being on her broomstick. She liked the inflight entertainment, watching a muggle film certainly passed the time but the food wasn't appealing at all. Sausage, mash and gravy looked like someone had put plastic food but she was hungry and regrettably swallowed it all. It wasn't until the plane landed in Narita Airport at nine am the following day that Ana found the pain of sitting too long, her legs where numb and made walking very slow.

It wasn't until the fourth day in Tokyo the events fate had set in motion really began to take shape and had fate suddenly taken form it would be that of a woman, giggling and clapping he hands as she watched the events unfold before her eyes. But sadly, fate does not have a form and only does what it is supposed to do; mess with people lives.

"Today," Hermione had declared as they got out of the taxi, "we are going to visit a shrine!"

"Oh yay," it was really hard for Ana to contain her excitement as she stared, bored out of her mind, at her excitable friend.

"You could at least try and be enthusiastic about this Anastasia," Hermione said, placing her hand on her hip.

"Sure thing mother," she responded sarcastically, "which shrine is this oh great tour guide?"

"Higurashi Shrine," Hermione began and Ana immediately shrank back, she was going to get a big history lesson right now, she could feel it. "Legend has it that the tree on these grounds dates back to the feudal era and is said to be magical in some way…"

Ana zoned her out as the woman continued her lesson, walking towards the shrine entrance she stared at Ron jealously, the man looked asleep as he followed behind them slowly. She paused suddenly as she reached a flight of stairs, her mouth falling open as she followed them up and up and up some more. "Hey Hermione," she said loudly, cutting of the other woman mid speech, "Did it mention in that guidebook of yours that we had to climb up to heaven to reach this shrine?"

"Of course not," Hermione sighed before looking up at the stairs, "it did say there were a lot of steps though."

"And why didn't you mention this before?"

"Because I knew you wouldn't come."

"Eh you're probably right," Ana looked at the stairs as if staring at them for long enough would turn them into an escalator. "Can I apparate?" she asked, whining slightly as she pouted, Hermione never answered instead she just began to ascend the stairs. "I will take that as a no," Ana muttered before following sullenly.

"Why on Earth would you have so many stairs?" Ron muttered, out of breath, as the trio continued their climb up.

"Well it's a shrine right?" Ana said rhetorically, "perhaps this is god way of punishing us. You know being all _ha puny human mortals, I will make you climb the stairs of doom before making you worship me mwahaha._" Her voice becoming deeper as she did her interpretation.

"Don't be stupid Ana," Hermione said impatiently, her face flushed from the climb.

When they finally made it to top of the shrine all their legs were burning and their breath leaving them in hurried pants. They were greeted by a woman who took one look at their flustered state and quickly brought them some water. The woman waited quietly for them to recover before asking "Anata wa jinja o mitemawaru shitai shite imasu ka? (1)" The three brits paused slightly, not understanding the fast spoken Japanese words.

"Eigo ga hanasemasu ka?(2)" Ana asked slowly, using the few Japanese sentence she knew from the guidebook.

"A little," the woman said hesitantly, "You want look at shrine?"

"Yes," Ana nodded, though the English the woman was using was heavily accented and poor she was able to understand.

"Ah, you look round," the woman said smiling before pointing to herself and continuing. "My name Kimiko."

"Kimiko, it's a pleasure to meet you," Ana said bowing slightly, "My name is Anastasia." As her friends introduced themselves green eyes peered around the shrine and after appraising it she found it boring. The only thing that caught her eye was the huge tree and not because it held any significance to her, she just had the childish urge to climb it. She walked away from Ron and Hermione as they continued to converse with Kimiko and walked around the place. She breathed a huge sigh and continued round the back of the shrine as a voice shouted out in Japanese and quickly Ana hid in the shadows of the house. She watched as another black haired girl stepped from the house, a huge yellow backpack fastened securely round her.

"Ittekimasu, (3)" The girl shouted waving her hand behind her. Ana watched confused as the girl disappeared into what looked like an abandoned well house. She waited in the shadows for ten minutes before curiosity got the better of her and she approached the well house. She hesitated before it with her hand on the door, wondering if the girl was still in there, it was one thing to get yelled at in your own language but it would an entirely new experience to get yelled at in a language you don't even understand. An experience Ana didn't want to live through. She sighed quietly before embracing her Gryffindor side and slide open the door before stepping in. It was dark inside but there was enough sunlight peeking through the cracks in the wood to make out the place was empty. Her curiosity growing slightly she wondered where the girl had gone. She stepped down the steps before her and approached the well with caution, expecting to see the girl's body laying at the bottom. She was shocked when she found an empty well, frowning she peered closer into the darkness of the well.

Slowly, magic began to stir around her and unbeknown to the green eyed saviour, a hand appeared from the shadows. Long spidery fingers reached out and with a hard shove to the back Ana was falling. Death looked down at the girl, a small smile appearing on his pale face as he heard her screams and the magic of the well take her form into the time vortex. He remained standing there as her friends burst into the well house, wands drawn, but they did not see him. How could they? He was after all Death, hidden to all who were living, but he could see them, he always saw for Death was also omnipotent. Though the girl-who-lived often escaped his sight, he knew that like her ancestor she would join him in eternal slumber as an equal. That's not to say she won't live a long life for she would as the owner of the Hallows, she will even see her friends again. Though she will be far older than them. Ah, he was getting a head of himself, he looked at the brown haired girl and the ginger haired boy and smiled, they would just have to wait a little while to be reunited with their best friend and her lover. Humming a merry tune Death departed from the well house even as the clatter around him began and chaos entered the room. He walked down the long flight of stairs, placing his fedora hat onto his head, he would not return to that place, for like the book store clerk, his job there was finished.

She had been falling for a while now, in that never ending stream of purple nothingness, though she knew she wasn't really falling. It was more like the space around her as moving while she stayed still. Ana Potter was left to question her luck for what seemed like the billionth time in her short life, she wondered briefly if Karma was responsible but she didn't believe in it. She sighed again and wondered when the purple haze would stop, it was like being on a merry-go-round, after the first go round you just wanted to get off but no, it just kept spinning and spinning. Finally she saw a white light, happy for the change of colour as it sped towards her before enveloping her in a cocoon of pure white.

Slowly colour seeped into her vision, dark brown and as she touched the ground she realised it was soil. Looking up she realised she was still in the well. "Did I just fall down the well?" she asked in disbelief, she peered up into the opening above her and noticed it was blue, "the sky?" She frowned, wasn't there supposed to be a wooden garden shed above her? She huffed unhappily before realising her only way out was the climb up so, mentally preparing herself she grabbed onto the vines that hung down the sides and began to pull herself up. "Damn," she muttered, "I seriously need to lose weight," she grinned as she continued to haul herself up the side of the well.

She panted and huffed harshly as she threw herself over the side of the well and onto the grass below, she lay on her back breathing in air as if it were the sweetest thing on Earth. Her eyes stared up at the blue sky above her, watching lazily as the clouds floated by her and slowly her breathing returned to normal. Though she remained on the ground watching the clouds float by smiling serenely at them, she had never cloud gazed before and she found herself wanting to continue to do it, finding peace in watching the different shapes go by.

"See, I told ya I smelt something wench," It was a loud voice that broke through her peaceful mood and groaning regretfully Ana sat up. Her eyes widened as she found herself staring at the black haired girl from the shrine, noticing the bright yellow backpack immediately.

"You," Ana said angrily pointing at the girl and standing quickly. "You're that girl I followed into the well house!"

"You followed me?" She asked hesitantly.

"Well yeah," Ana said, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head, "See I watched you leave your house and when you went into the well house and didn't leave, I got curious and went to have a look inside. Then I get pushed into the well and am surrounding by a purple light."

"Oh dear," the girl muttered and began to pace, "this is bad."

"Huh?" Ana muttered, her head tilting slightly as she stared confused at the girl, "what's bad?"

"You being here."

"Ah yeah about that…where is here exactly?"

"You're in Sengoku Jidai wench," it was the boy who had broken her peace that spoke, looking tense as he gripped the hilt of sword.

* * *

><p>AN: So that's the first chapter. Personally I think its much better than the original but what do you think? Please review and tell me!

Translations:

(1) Do you want to look around the shrine?

(2) Do you speak English?

(3) I'm leaving or I'm leaving and will come back.


	2. Hello Cold World

A/N: Chapter two! Yay! Okay so I just wanted to mention that the sudden knowledge of the Japanese language get explained a little in this chapter but it will get explained fully in a later chapter okay? Also Sesshoumaru is in this chapter and their is a change in relationship dynamics compared to Death's Companion but I hope you like the new idea I had for it.

Disclaimer: Puh-lease of course I own it all, I'm sitting in Hogwarts right now...and then sadly I wake up and realise I own nothing.

Randomness: Sometime I imagine what it would be like to be a penguin.

* * *

><p>It's such a cold, cold world (hello cold world)<p>

And I can't get out, so I'll just make the best with everything I'll never have

It's such a cold, cold world (hello cold world)

And it's got me down, but I'll get right back up, as long as its spins around

~ Paramore Hello Cold World

* * *

><p>"<em>This book is amazing!" Hermione gushed two days after Christmas day having spent them curled up on the armchair reading. "It has such amazing detail, but oddly enough it has information on the Sengoku Jidai."<em>

"_Sengo-what?" Ron had said as his queen demolished Ana's rook._

"_Dammit all to hell," Ana muttered angrily before leaning closer to the board, trying to figure out her next move as well as Ron's possible moves. "Sounds like a disease to me," she said to Hermione causing Ron to snigger quietly in amusement._

"_It's not a disease its period in time, like we have the Renaissance Period and they have Sengoku Jidai, the Warring States Era." Hermione huffed angrily before returning to her book._

"_Sounds stupid," Ana said before moving her knight on the board to take Ron's bishop. "I mean why would you spend that whole time at war with each other."_

"_It was a time where lands where in dispute with each other and the lords of…."_

_Both Ana and Ron had zoned out by then, more focussed on the chess game in front of them to care about the past._

"Sengoku Jidai?" Ana responded to the boy breathlessly, "but how is that possible? Time travel isn't so far advanced that it could go back that far! I mean a few days sure but centuries" Ana turned around and peered into the well, this time with anger filling her body, "If I jump down it will I go back?"

"That's how it works for me," The girl said gently ad before she could open her mouth again Ana had jumped, "but I don't think it will work like that for you." She ran to the wells edge and peered inside and sure enough, there was Ana angrily standing at the bottom. The Japanese girl waited for the other to climb out again before speaking to her, "I think what brought you here is different to what brought me here."

"Of course it won't take me back," Ana said, resignation in her voice as she sat on the ground, "nothing is ever simple for the girl-who-lived. I thought after Voldemort I'd be done with this."

"We will help you."

"Like hell we will, I don't want another wench on this quest."

"Osuwari!"

Ana laughed, she couldn't help it, as the silver-haired boy crashed into the ground. Her arms clutched her stomach as she continued to laugh hard at the boys misfortune, it was only after the boy had gotten up again and she stopped her loud laughing that her mind began to wonder why. "How did you do that?" She asked as she rose to her feet, "what are your names?"

"There are um beads of subjugation around Inuyasha's neck," the girl mumbled uncertainly, "My name is Kagome and this is Inuyasha a hanyou…" Kagome then told Ana a bit about their quest to obtain all the jewel shards and meeting Shippou and Miroku. Ana thought it was foolish to break the Shikon-no-Tama but it was honourable for Kagome to want to retrieve the pieces.

"Well it's nice to meet you," Ana said, bowing to them, "My name is Ana Potter and well putting it simply I'm a witch." She nervously looked at them, absently mindedly pulling at her long raven coloured hair. Revealing her magical abilities to muggles was against the law, but she reasoned that she was so far in the past that the ministry hadn't even formed and she would rather tell them outright than have them discover it by accident.

"A witch," Kagome said hesitantly, the only witches she had ever experienced weren't good and even in the fairy-tales those with magic were bad news. "Aren't they evil?"

"No!" Ana denied quickly and loudly, holding her hands up in protest, "well some are but magic itself isn't evil. It's just an entity that is neither good nor bad, it's the wielder that is good or bad. I'm a good witch but there are bad witches and wizards." She was rambling and she knew she was rambling but she hated people being prejudiced against magic.

"Calm down wench," Inuyasha muttered before placing his arms into the sleeve of his haori. "We ain't gonna hurt ya for somethin' ya can't control." He turned and began walking away and Ana followed behind him at Kagome's pushing.

She wondered about the future now, what would happen to her? Would she ever be able to go home? She looked up at the sky again and the sudden urge to fly, to feel the wind whip through her hair as adrenaline surged in her veins. Knowing that falling meant serious harm and even death the thrill was so much better, swooping and diving performing tricks on that small wooden broom but noting beat the game of Quidditch. The competition was fierce and playing against Malfoy always made her tense and eager. Looking up at the clouds she wanted to join them.

"You speak Japanese well for a foreign girl," Kagome said suddenly disturbing Ana's thoughts as green eyes met blue in confusion.

"I'm not speaking Japanese," Ana told her, "You're speaking English."

"My English isn't good at all, I can barely manage a couple of sentences." Kagome said becoming as confused as the magic user, "Inuyasha certainly can't speak English, the language isn't known in this time."

Ana frowned, another mystery to add to the ever-growing list, she really couldn't catch a break. She was still pondering her bad luck when they entered the village, it was a small village but the people where hard at work in the fields. Even children where helping out. The villagers called out greeting to Kagome and she responded in kind, it was obvious that they were familiar with each other and it made Ana wonder just how long she had come here. They stopped when they reached a hut and Inuyasha went inside but Kagome stopped with Ana just outside the door.

"Are you sure you want to help us?" She asked Ana who only nodded in response, "Good, we could use the help and with your magic you're bound to be a great help to us."

Inuyasha came back out, following him was an old woman, a small demon child and a robe clad guy holding a staff. "This old hag is Keade, the kid is Shippou the kitsune and the monk over there is Miroku, he's a leacher though." He muttered as he walked past Ana, his grumpy attitude beginning to grate on her nerves.

"You're beauty shines like the stars at night my lady," Miroku spoke, grabbing her hand in his as he smiled. Ana blushed, unused to such words especially from the mouth of a strange man. "Would you do me the honour of baring my child?" She froze as she felt a hand slowly rub her butt.

"Get off me you pervert!" She yelled smacking him full across the face, her face red with embarrassment. They didn't stay long at the village but it was enough time to see how they all gelled together as a group and Ana was strongly reminded of her own group of friends and Keade was like female version of Dumbledore in that they were both wise and helpful.

It was a week later that she finally began to feel comfortable with her new group of friends, they hadn't come across anymore jewel shards but Ana had seen her first demon, an ugly boar like youkai that wanted them for dinner. Inuyasha had made short work of it with his Tessaiga. They had opted to stop by a village for the night ad approaching the fanciest looking house their Miroku had managed to convince they head of the house that an ominous presence lingered over it.

"Is he really a monk?" Ana asked Kagome as they ate, Ana rather clumsily dropping her food from the chopsticks, Kagome shrugged in response, too preoccupied with food and comfort to give a verbal reply. Ana stared at her rice and determination shone in her eyes as she lowered her chopsticks, gathering some rice on it she brought it slowly to her mouth, watching in dismay as the pieces of rice fell back into the bowl before she got any in. Inuyasha began laughing hard at Ana's futile attempts at eating and, slamming the bowl of rice down she stood up and glared at the hanyou. "What?" she said angrily, "do you find it amusing? Excuse me for not using chopsticks before now, excuse my lack of knowledge in the art of eating Japanese style. I was raised to eat with a knife and a fork not two wooden sticks. So shove it Inuyasha because it's not funny at all."

"Chill out wench," he mumbled an embarrassed tinge appearing on his cheeks.

"You're not nice Inuyasha," Shippou stated from his seat between Ana and Kagome. The green-eyed witch had gotten close to the adorable little kitsune in the past week and had taken him on as an honorary marauder, beginning to teach him tricks and pranks. It warmed her heart to see the kit defending her, perhaps she would teach him another prank in return. Ana smiled down at Shippou before walking to the door, intent on watching the darkened sky for a little while. "Where are you going Ana?"

"Just for some fresh air Shippou," she mumbled as she slid open the door and stepped out into the cool night air. She walked away from the house and decided to sit on the steps that led up to the back of the house, giving her a perfect view up at night sky. The moon was big and bright in the sky and though there were stars to keep it company, they were too far away to provide much comfort. "Ah moon, I am beginning understand how you feel." She said quietly her eyes never leaving that ball of white contrasting so brightly against the dark sky, "you have the stars and I have these guys here but it's not the same is it? It's not the same as real family." She sighed and looked away, loneliness filling her as her two best friends popped into her head and unnoticed to her, small crystal like tears dripped from her eyes. "Ron and Hermione, they are my family and yet I will never see them again will I? They are going to get married and have children, I won't be there to see them either because I'm stuck here. I won't be able to start my own family here because no one understands, women are treated second class and what man would want a freak with magic."

"We will be your family," Kagome said from behind her, her own tears falling fast from her eyes as she witnessed the sorrow and pain of the older girl. She joined Ana on the step and didn't say anything else to her, not needing to after letting her know that she was accepted as one of the group. Both girls sat there until their tears dried up and only hiccups and sniffles remained, Ana suddenly found herself embraced in a tight hug and slowly she returned it. Kagome suddenly stiffened and pulled away making the witch frown at her wondering what was wrong. "I sense a jewel shard and it's moving towards us fast."

"Go get Inuyasha and the others," Ana said quickly, if it was moving fast that would mean whatever being had the shard was at least semi powerful. "I'll stay here," she told the panicked miko, drawing her wand from her sleeve as she stood she stared at the still unmoving woman, "Go!" She shook her head as Kagome finally moved to race up the stairs.

A small explosion sounded as soon as Kagome moved, making her stop and turn to stare but Ana only motioned for her to keep going. Wand gripped tightly in her hand, she waited for the dust to clear and when it did her eyes widened slightly in surprise. There was no way that huge oni could move as fast as Kagome had hinted at but as a smaller figure jumped from the oni's shoulder she knew that it was this figure who had the jewel shard and the speed. He landed gracefully on the ground and Ana was reminded of the ballerina's she had seen once, the comparison making her snort in amusement. He was regal, he held himself tall and strong and his armour looked like nothing she had ever seen before. She was suddenly reminded of Inuyasha as she noticed the golden eyes and the long following silver hair and as if reading her mind he spoke to her. "Ningen," he sneered as if the word was a disgrace in itself, "you will fetch Inuyasha."

"Ask nicely and I might consider it," she stated coldly, the youkai reminding her strongly of Draco in his holier-than-thou attitude but Ana had sneaking suspicion that unlike Malfoy, this guy had the power to back up his arrogance. She raised her wand slightly, preparing herself to reel of a multitude of spells to defend herself.

"It is below this one to ask twice," he seemed to be talking to himself as he contemplated killing the girl who dared to decline him.

"Funny," Ana said sarcastically, "I don't recall you asking at all."

A green whip was suddenly thrown towards her and Ana, thanking the Gods above that she was prepared for an attack, threw up a quick shield to deflect it. She wondered briefly if the youkai was surprised, his statue-like resemblance not giving anything away, before she responded with her own attack. "Sectumsempra," she muttered, her wand pointing directly at the youkai and the spell shot fast towards him. Cursing silently as he dodged the spell, causing it hit the oni behind him who roared in pain as his flesh was cut deeply. Green eyes moved around her as she searched for the white-clad enemy, wishing desperately that the others would arrive soon, she felt a shift in the air behind her and before she could react she found a clawed hand pressing against her neck.

She was pulled back into an armoured chest and another hand tightened around her wand hand, pulling it away from her and from him as well. Her mind making the note that the hand around her wand had no claws unlike the one around her neck which was slowly tightening. "What are you?" she heard his voice growl into her ear and, had she not been in a life or death situation she would be melting into a pile of goo at the sinfully delicious sound. Instead she refused to answer her eyes glaring in an unspoken challenge that said 'make me', the snarl she got in response almost made her smile, he was like Malfoy in more ways than one it seemed. The claws pressing against her neck dug deeper and a gasp escaped the girl as they broke the skin and she felt beads of her blood trickling down her neck.

The youkai behind her stiffened slightly as the scent of her blood hit his sensitive nose, it smelled like power. The ancient powers of long ago, when his ancestors walked the Earth and were worshipped as Gods, it was raw, wild and untamed power and he felt his own blood rise in response. The urge to tame this wild power was beginning to overwhelm his amazing control and even as he felt his eyes bleed red, he found that he couldn't bring up the effort to really care and let his instincts take over his body. He leaned down and rubbed his nose against her neck, growling quietly as he felt her stiffen, before he turned her head round slightly, careful of his claws. He didn't want to harm this girl, he only wanted her to submit to him so he could tame that power that caressed his skin. His tongue darted from between his lips and licked roughly at the spilled blood, a small growl-like purr rumbling from him as the taste exploded on his tongue, it tasted spicy and pure and full of power.

"Sesshoumaru you bastard!" Inuyasha shouted as he stumbled across the scene and anger surged through him. He withdrew Tessaiga immediately as he made his way towards the couple.

Sesshoumaru cursed himself as he forgot his surroundings and true purpose of this little visit, slowly his eyes returned to their normal golden hue and, reluctantly, let go of the little onna he desired to possess. He had his half breed brother to attend to and it wouldn't do for something that belonged to him to get in the way, he took care of his possessions after all. What he wasn't expecting was to be blasted away from his onna as soon as he let go of her. He flipped in the air and landed gracefully on the ground, his golden eyes staring into furious green.

"Do you lick everyone you meet or am I the only one to receive such treatment?" she asked him, her tone clipped and angry as her magic brushed around her in response to her emotions.

"He licked you?" Inuyasha asked in disbelief, knowing full what the implications of that one act and as Ana nodded a cold fury swept through his body as he stared at his older brother. "What the hell are you planning? Stay away from her you bastard!" He shouted angrily as he jumped toward Sesshoumaru, swinging his sword down as he went.

"You will not order this Sesshoumaru," he said as he dodged the blow from Tessaiga and struck out with his acid whip, striking Inuyasha in the chest, "know your place, half-breed."

* * *

><p>AN: So I decided to end it there for now. What did you think? Please review and let me know.

Randomness cont: Penguins are such cute little creatures that I can't help but want a pet penguin just to watch it waddle around all day.


	3. The Rest of Us

A/N: So next chapter...this took a lot longer to write than I expected...well I started back up at university this week and that means less free time so I am going to limit myself to posting a new chapter every two weeks on a Saturday.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Enjoy~

* * *

><p>Here's to the rest of us<p>

To all the ones that never felt they were good enough

I wanna hear it for the dazed and confused

The freaks and the losers

~ Simple Plan, The Rest of Us

* * *

><p>Ana stared in growing horror and shock as she watched her friend fight this much stronger opponent, her eyes almost glowing in the multitude of emotions running through her body but now watching Inuyasha get thrown to the ground again worry began to overpower her being. She felt like she was watching herself in her own pitiful attempts at defeating Voldemort. She was eleven years old again, having the life choked out of her by Quirrell, she was twelve and being chased by a hungry basilisk, venom spitting from its mouth in anticipation of eating her while the handsome boy she thought she could trust watched with laughter.<p>

"They are brothers well half-brothers, they share the same father" she heard Kagome tell her distantly, though the young miko was beside her. _Brothers, yet they fight like this_ she thought, tears began welling up in her eyes as suddenly before her Inuyasha transformed into her four year old self and Sesshoumaru became her cousin. No matter how much she pleaded, he would never stop trying to find ways to hurt her. "Sesshoumaru sees Inuyasha as a half-breed, a stain on his family name."

Inuyasha was a freak, a reject, just like her and Ana's hands clenched in anger, a furious anger brought about only by an understanding of another person's pain. The scene before her focused back to Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru just as the hanyou was forced away from his sword by a powerful blast from the older male. She was dimly aware of the conversation before her as the Daiyoukai gripped the Tessaiga and showed Inuyasha what the sword could really do. The Oni they had brought with them slapped a giant hand down on the mountainside, sending thousands of lesser youkai into the air and with one sweep of the sword, Sesshoumaru killed them all in a giant wave of light. But Ana wasn't aware of this from a personal perspective, it was as though she was watching a muggle film on TV and this was all some special effect done by a computer. She watched Inuyasha's angry face but she could see in his eyes the hurt and the longing to just be accepted by his elder brother, the need to belong into a family.

Awareness filled her being and her magic, controlled by her anger, swirled eagerly around her almost physically visible. She continued staring down at Inuyasha's prone form as he stared in shock at the destruction cause by the sword and knew he felt betrayal, from both his brother and the sword. Like any sibling he longed to be acknowledged by the elder and Inuyasha fought hard for that, though he came across as hating Sesshoumaru, like she had longed to have her aunt be proud of her. But like the unwanted beings they were, they could never have that one wish. The sword had shown Sesshoumaru this great power, whereas Inuyasha could only use its rudimental form so this great heirloom of his father had also betrayed him.

Suddenly she found herself by Inuyasha's side, absently noting she had just apparated for the first time. "Don't worry Inuyasha," she told him comfortingly, placing her hand on his arm, "it takes experience to wield a sword and no doubt this arrogant brother of yours has received training from the very best swordsmen like every spoilt noble gets. The sword is your birth right no matter what spews from his mouth, your father left it to you."

"Why are you…?" he trailed of, unable to finish the question as he saw the fierce look in her eyes as well as the understanding and he felt the bond of friendship between them grow.

"Because us half-breed freaks have got to stick together," She told him, giving him a brilliant smile that made the tips of his ears turn red in embarrassment and admiration. "You can beat this prick Inuyasha."

"The half-breed will never beat this one," Sesshoumaru spoke, calm and cool though inside he was a boiling mess of thoughts that piled up one after the other since she had admitted to being a half-breed herself and he was left questioning and half-breed of what exactly. She wasn't a demon, he knew that much.

"You want to know why?" She asked Inuyasha, ignoring Sesshoumaru and it was only after Inuyasha nodded that she stared into the golden eyes of the Daiyoukai, a grin firmly on her face, "because you have something worth fighting for."

She held out her hand and a quick summoning charm had the sword flying into her hand. The rusty untransformed sword stared at her, its own youki pulsing slightly in response to being so close to her magic but it settled down after realising she meant it no harm. The youki though was not Inuyasha's, it was too powerful even if it was residual transference, _so the sword is more than a weapon, it cannot leave Inuyasha's side _she thought in realisation before slowly looking up, her vision filling with the white cloth of the older brother's outfit. He held his hand out to her as if expecting her to hand Tessaiga to him, she snorted lightly and looked at him properly as she tried to figure his next move out.

"Give me the sword onna," though his voice was low and controlled it was obviously an order but Ana shook her head.

"No," she responded angrily, "this sword belongs to Inuyasha not you."

"You will give this one the sword," his golden eyes narrowed and his youki surged slightly as Ana defied him. His instinct urged him to make her submit in the way his ancestors before him had made their women submit but this wasn't the time or the place. He had better things to achieve, like the Tessaiga.

"It's not yours," Ana insisted again, her voice hard and steely, though doubt began to creep up inside her about her capabilities at taking him on. "If you want you're going to have to come and take it from me."

His lip quirked up slightly in response to the onna before him challenging him, a part of him was impressed that she managed to stay strong but he knew that she had the power to back it up. It was in her blood, her sweet delicious blood and he had the sudden desire to see what her power had to offer. Anticipation filled him and he moved. The sword in her hand pulsed in warning and her magic reacted, she and Inuyasha both disappeared from the spot and reappeared someway away from where they had last been standing. Sesshoumaru growled as he realised what had happened and turned to attack them again only to be caught off guard again by a spell hitting him full force, shattering his armour and sending him back a few places. He would have been amused at this little onna's speed and her ability to manipulate her power so well but rage quickly burned through that emotion as she handed Inuyasha the sword.

"Kick his ass, I believe in you," Ana told him as Inuyasha gripped the blade tight in his grip and the sword transformed again.

The hanyou smiled in thanks, confidence filling his entire being as he stared at his brother. _Something worth fighting for_ he thought to himself and as the faces of his friends popped into his head he realised that he had something he had never had before, not even with Kikyo. He had friends that relied on him and trusted him and though he messed up a lot, especially when it comes to Kagome, he knew they would always be there for him through thick and thin they had a bond together. He would burn in hell before breaking that bond. _I will beat you Sesshoumaru and then, you will be forced to acknowledge me and see how strong I have grown with my friends by my side_. Inuyasha shot forwards, faster than Ana had ever seen him move and knew what she had said had had burrowed its way into his heart, giving him a new found confidence and strength. He swung the sword with the ease of a professional and had Sesshoumaru on the defensive as he tried to defend the blows Inuyasha was throwing his way.

Sesshoumaru was surprised as he watched his brother, the way he calmly attacked and the precision in which his blows came it was like he was looking at a younger version of himself and that little fact made him angry. How dare this half-breed think he can be on par with him, the lord of the western lands? But he had little option other than to defend and as he did it finally occurred to him that the reason Inuyasha had found this courage was because of the green eyed girl. She was able to inspire him with just a few short words, a talent only few people were blessed with, a natural born leader that could give hope to the dark. She would make a perfect candidate for the position of the lady of the west, as soon as this thought registered he growled angrily, a human would never be lady of the west, no matter how powerful she was. He would never lay with a human and sire half-breeds, the thought alone sent disgust crawling through him. But her blood called to him even now, in the midst of a fight he wanted to sink his teeth into her again and feel that power that coursed through her blood. He had laid his mark upon her body, she was his now and he always took care of his possession however this girl was a puzzle, one he wasn't sure he could solve. He didn't know what to do with her. By right he should demand that she travel with him, be by his side and tend his every need like a female should for her lord but what would prolonged exposure to that tempting and arousing power do to him? He needed to leave, to get away from her and think through things clearly.

"I got you now you bastard!" Sesshoumaru had paused in his defence, allowing Inuyasha to take aim and with one sweep of the sword his arm, the human arm the one called Naraku had given him, came off. It didn't hurt like the first time his arm was cut off but then he supposed that is was because this one was only a borrowed one. Without the arm he couldn't get Tessaiga and finally he had a reason to retreat without looking like a coward and as his golden eyes stared into luminous green he turned into a ball of light and left the battle field. Ignoring Jaken as he shouted for his master to wait for him.

Two days later found the group back in Kaede's village, healing from the wounds delivered at the hands of Sesshoumaru. Inuyasha had received terrible wounds from the acid whip his brother had used on him and while he and Ana had been fighting with the Daiyoukai, Kagome and Miroku had been busy as well. Miroku had been wanting to help out so naturally opened his wind tunnel, only to be stopped short as Jaken pulled out a small hive and the saimyosho that burst from it had poisoned him badly. Though they had managed to find out how they knew of his weapon from a very beat up Jaken. Naraku had been the mastermind behind Sesshoumaru's attack.

Inuyasha had taken Kagome to the bone eaters well to talk in private so naturally Miroku and Ana followed behind and stayed hidden from view. Green eyes peeked through their hiding place as Inuyasha hugged Kagome, though she couldn't hear what he was whispering she suddenly felt bad for intruding on such an intimate moment, that was until he shoved Kagome down the well and covered it with a tree. Miroku had ran over, yelling at Inuyasha as Shippou peered into the well, hoping to see Kagome but the tree had prevented her return into the past and Inuyasha calmly explained that he did it for her protection, he didn't want her getting hurt in this fight with Naraku.

"You can be such an idiot sometimes Inuyasha," Ana told him gently, "Kagome is one of the people who will help you become stronger. Also…how are we going to get the Shikon shards now? Kagome was the only one who could sense them."

"I know okay!" Inuyasha implored desperately, "but I couldn't…what if next time she gets seriously injured? It will be my fault and I can't have that happen, I can't afford that distraction. You two are stronger than she is and you can take care of yourselves but she is defenceless and her archery sucks. I want to take care of Naraku myself!"

Shippou had sat by the well all day, the other three going back to Kaede's hut so Inuyasha could have his wound looked at again and Keade, under Inuyasha's badgering began to tell them of the bandit Onigumo. "I can think of only one person who would trap you and Kikyo, a person who wanted to defile Kikyo's heart and make her resent you," she paused as she stood motioning them to follow her and she led them through a field to a small cave, "it was here where the bandit Onigumo lay, he was a man who had committed many evil deeds and it was here where Kikyo tended to his wounds. When she found him, he was in a wretched state, he couldn't move and my sister fed him and tended to him every day. He grew fond of Kikyo and often I would catch him staring at her longer then he should, I believe he loved her. In some sick and twisted way his heart longed for her love but she loved another and his hatred grew. I came back here after my sister had died and this is what I found."

They entered the cave and Ana recoiled instantly, feeling sick at the amount of dark, tainted aura span from the single spot where she assumed Onigumo had lain, it was black the earth dead and it contrasted sharply from the green grass that grew around it. "What happened here?" she asked in horror.

"I believe that in his darkest hour, lesser youkai gathered here and made him a deal Onigumo couldn't refuse. I believe he allowed the youkai to feast on his flesh to grant him a new body, a body made up of those youkai. I believe he became the hanyou Naraku."

They didn't speak as they returned to the village, Ana leaving to see how Shippou was doing at the well. She found him crying, sat before the well and as she sat beside him he crawled into her lap and cried hard into her chest. She didn't speak and only wrapped her arms around him.

"Can you remove it?" he asked brokenly as he calmed down enough to speak.

"I can," she responded sighing as she added, "but that doesn't mean I will."

"Why not? Don't you want Kagome to return?"

"I do want that but this isn't a decision I can make," she told him as she tried to think of a way to make the child understand, "this is something Inuyasha has to do, he has to realise how important Kagome is and that it's her decision to remain with him. Inuyasha has to do this by himself, and with you hanging around the well he isn't going to come to that decision easily, so what do you say we go back to the hut and have something warm to eat and get some much needed sleep?"

Shippou nodded and allowed Ana to carry him back to the hut where he did exactly as she had said. As evening came she stood outside the hut looking up at the moon, her hand placed over the mark on her neck as it throbbed painfully, and she didn't think something that looked like a hickey could hurt like this. "I wonder why he did that," she said as she recalled Sesshoumaru biting her.

"You wanna know what it means?" Startled Ana turned around and found Inuyasha looking at her strangely.

"It means something?"

"Yeah, I'm not too sure on the specifics because I wasn't raised properly like Sesshoumaru was but I know enough," Inuyasha paused as he joined her, his gaze focussing on the moon too, "Sesshoumaru and I are inu and it's in our instincts to claim what we see as ours, 'cept with me the instinct isn't as powerful 'cause I got human blood too. So I guess what I'm saying is that now you belong to Sesshoumaru, if another youkai should come sniffing around you that mark will tell them your taken and they should back off unless they wish to invoke Sesshoumaru's wrath. I just don't understand why he bit you, that bastard hates humans with a passion."

"I belong to him?" Ana asked in outrage.

"Yeah basically, look I'm not explaining this right…I don't know all the details but I know when my dad was with my mother he bit her. I guess you're thinking it's pretty outrageous to belong to someone huh? You come from Kagome's world where women are like equals but here it isn't like that and you need to keep that in mind. Like I said I don't know much about it, just the basics."

"Oh I swear the next time I see him I'm going to…"

"To what?" Inuyasha asked amused as Ana spluttered trying to think of something.

"I'm going to cut off all that pretty hair of his!" She exclaimed angrily and Inuyasha laughed so hard he fell to the ground. He hoped the next meeting with his brother happened sooner rather than later.

* * *

><p>AN: So the plot with Naraku moves forwards which is really what I wanted to get out of this chapter. Kagome is stuck in the present and Ana knows what the bite means!

So next chapter means Sango should arrive and the group will be whole! Yay!


End file.
